Huskers Fall at Colorado

Boulder, Colo. ? Freshman Cookie Miller scored 18 points in the first Big 12 road game of his career and Aleks Maric added 14, but that was it offensively for Nebraska, as the Huskers were held to a season-low in points during a 55-51 loss at Colorado on Tuesday night.

 

NU shot a season-low from the floor for the second consecutive game, finishing at 34 percent. Miller and Maric combined to hit 11-of-19 shots, while the rest of the team was just 5-of-28.

 

Even with the poor shooting performance, Miller turned it on late to pull Nebraska within two in the final minute, but it was not to be. Miller, who entered the game having hit five 3-pointers through the first 14 games, hit a career-high four 3-pointers while finishing just one point shy of his career high, which also came on the road at Creighton.

 

The loss was Nebraska's third in three road games this season, and dropped NU to 11-4 on the season and 0-2 in the Big 12 Conference.

 

Nebraska found itself down three at the half despite committing only four first-half turnovers and out-shooting and out-rebounding the Buffaloes.

 

The Husker offense was operating efficiently early led by the inside-outside combination of Miller and Maric. Miller knocked down his first two 3-pointers, while Maric connected on his first three shots.

 

The duo combined for seven points as NU ran off nine straight midway through the period. Ryan Anderson then added five consecutive points to cap a 12-3 run that put the Huskers on top 18-13.

 

NU’s offense would stall from there, with a pair of Sek Henry buckets accounting for the Huskers’ only points over the final 7:32 of the first half. Fueled by its defense, CU used a quick 7-0 spurt to regain the lead at 20-18. Colorado closed the period on a 12-4 run to take a 25-22 lead into the locker room.

 

Colorado struggled with its shot in the first half, spending much of the period hitting less than 30 percent. The Buffaloes relied on five free throws and four 3-pointers to account for 17 of their 25 first-half points.

 

Nebraska had just four players score in the first half, including six from Maric and Miller and five each from Anderson and Henry. Aside from those four, the rest of the Husker lineup was 0-of-10 from the field, including 0-of-4 from downtown.

 

The Huskers made it a point to attack the basket early in the second half, earning three trips to the line in the first two minutes. NU knocked down 4-of-6 from the line during that stretch to take a one-point lead.

 

After Miller knocked down his career-high third 3-pointer, Colorado scored six unanswered points to take a 34-29 lead. The Huskers responded with five quick points of their own ? including the first two points from Ade Dagunduro in more than three halves ? to pull even at 34-all.

 

The game of spurts continued as Colorado answered back with a 7-0 run before Miller and Paul Velander combined to score five straight for Nebraska. The Buffaloes again responded with six unanswered points that put the Buffaloes in front 49-41 with less than three minutes remaining.

 

CU continued to keep the Huskers at bay until Miller scored five points and tallied a beautiful assist on a Velander 3-pointer that cut the lead to 51-49 with just under one minute remaining. That would be as close as the Huskers would get, however, as Richard Roby scored on a layup and Xavier Silas hit a pair of free throws with 4.5 seconds remaining.

 

Roby led CU with 12 points and 10 rebounds as the Buffaloes improved to 9-7 overall and 1-1 in the league.

 

Nebraska returns home this Saturday, Jan. 19 for a 5 p.m. contest with Baylor that will be televised by ESPN Plus.